(January 20, 2006) A team of experts has deemed the Three Gorges dam ‘safe and reliable enough to hold water,’ the official Chinese news agency reports.

Yichang: Chinese experts have approved the construction quality of the 1,600-metre Three Gorges dam to date, officials with the China Yangtze Three Gorges Project Development Company, the proprietor of the project, said here Wednesday [1 May]. After a comprehensive examination of the world’s largest dam on the Yangtze River [Chang Jiang], the experts employed by the Three Gorges Project Construction Committee said the dam was safe and reliable enough to hold water. The review was done before the cofferdam upstream of the main dam was demolished Wednesday, allowing the river to wash directly up to the dam. Chinese builders have poured more than 12 million cu.m. of cement over the past five years into the dam, currently standing 167 metres high on average. The building of another section of the dam, about 600 metres long, is expected to begin next year. The Three Gorges Hydropower Plant will have an installed capacity of 18.2m KW upon completion, making it the biggest hydropower plant in the world. The first generating units of the project will be put into service in 2003.

Xinhua news agency, January 20, 2006